World’s largest treat finished at state fair

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August 5, 2013 - 11:43am

The World’s Largest Popcorn Ball was finished at the Indiana State Fair this year, which runs from Aug. 2-18. Topeka packing company Snax in Pax was instrumental in creating the popcorn ball, having built the 2,768 pound base early last month and transporting it to the fair to be finished by hand. The popcorn ball will be on display in the Agriculture and Horticulture (Ag-Hort) Building at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis until the last day of the fair.

The record-breaking popcorn ball weighs 6,510 pounds. It is made up of 976.5 pounds of popcorn, 1,113.21 pounds of popcorn kernels, and 5,533.5 pounds of glue.

The glue mixture to hold it together is made of water, sugar, and corn syrup, and mushroom popcorn was employed for construction.

After Snax in Pax provided the lower half of the ball, volunteers at the Indiana State Fair finished the remaining 3,742 pounds of popcorn ball by hand, putting in a whopping 281 construction hours total.

This involved cooking 81 batches of glue mixture at incredibly high temperatures and packing the popcorn carefully by hand. Each batch weighed 46 pounds and took a half an hour to cook, meaning the cooking itself took over 36 hours total. Over 70 builders participated in the challenging construction.

On Sunday, fairgoers ogled the popcorn ball, touching its hard-packed surface. The ball towers over everyone at eight feet in diameter. It is 24 feet and 9 inches in circumference. The ball beat the former world record in Sac City, Iowa, by over 1,500 pounds.

After the Indiana State Fair, the gigantic treat will be deconstructed safely and fed to livestock.